Apprentice Academy
by iMelinda
Summary: What would happen if the warrior cats went to school? Join our three favorite apprentices Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw as they struggle through massive amounts of homework, P.E. class, and other school troubles!
1. First Day of School

**Chapter One**

Hollypaw padded nervously up to the iron gates of her new school. 'APPRENTICE ACADEMY' read a nearby sign. The Clan leaders had decided at the last Gathering that it would be easier to train all the apprentices at one big place. Even the younger warriors would learn new skills.

She heard an amazed mew behind her. "Wow," meowed Lionpaw, her brother. He pushed open the gate and together they led Jaypaw to their new school.

The black apprentice looked down at her schedule. "It says I've got ge-ge-geo…" She struggled to sound out the long word.

Lionpaw took the sheet of paper from her. "Geometry," he pronounced perfectly. Hollypaw sighed. Even at school, her brother had to do everything better than she did.

She recalled an event a little over a moon ago, before their trip into the mountains. Ashfur had fought Lionpaw as hard as any warrior would in a real battle. They'd actually had their claws unsheathed. But Lionpaw had fought back like a warrior. Hollypaw wished she could do everything as well as he could, even though she would have a different power from the prophecy.

"I wonder what geometry is," she meowed.

"It says that class is in room B," mewed Lionpaw, scanning the schedule. "Let's go find out!"

* * *

By lunchtime, Hollypaw didn't think she'd be able to take another class. Her paws felt so heavy that it was a miracle she could put one in front of the other. Her eyelids were drooping so she could hardly read the sign of what was for lunch. To top it all off, her book bag was weighed down with what felt like several tons of homework.

"Great StarClan," she gasped as she collapsed at a table next to Honeypaw and Cinderpaw, "I've never had so much work in my life!"

"Have you had math class yet?" asked Cinderpaw.

"I think so," Hollypaw replied. "It's the one with all the shapes, right?"

"That's the one," meowed Honeypaw. "Mousefur's brutal." The grumpy ThunderClan elder had taught them about confusing shapes with weird names that somehow had something to do with 'one mouse plus one mouse equals two mice.'

"Mistyfoot's not a bad geography teacher, though," Cinderpaw commented.

"I thought Mousefur taught geometry," Hollypaw mewed thickly through a mouthful of her fresh-kill sandwich. She had never tasted anything like it before.

"She does," replied Honeypaw. "Mistyfoot teaches _geography_. There's a big difference."

Hollypaw sighed. She felt like a kit just out of the nursery. It seemed like Cinderpaw and Honeypaw knew everything about the school already, even though they'd only been there as long as she had. They finished their meal in silence.

When the bell rang, (a harsh, grating noise that hurt Hollypaw's sensitive ears), she dove into her bag for her schedule. "I've got geography next!" she meowed to her friends.

"You'll love it," Cinderpaw promised. "Mistyfoot didn't give us that much homework."

Waving her tail in a last goodbye, Hollypaw set off for geography in room E. She meowed a greeting to Mistyfoot and took a seat near the window. Gazing outside, Hollypaw thought to herself: _I wish I could be out there, learning to hunt and fight, like a Clan cat, and not cooped up in this school learning geometry and history._

She was glad when Jaypaw sat down next to her. It was nice to see a familiar face; she hadn't had any classes with her brothers since geometry that morning.

"How's your day been?" she whispered to him.

"Fine!" Jaypaw snapped. Regardless of what he said, he didn't look fine. His fur was ruffled and his eyes were dull with exhaustion. Hollypaw suspected that besides having a lot of work, some other apprentices had been picking on him for being blind. Before she could say any more on the matter, though, Mistyfoot called the class to order.

Cinderpaw was right, geography was interesting. She had never known that twolegs had called their old forest the New Forest, or that the Sun-Drown-Place was located near what the twolegs called the Ocean. Everything was much more interesting from the twolegs' point of view.

Hollypaw's next class was P.E. She wasn't quite sure what it stood for, but it had to be something interesting. She met up with Lionpaw in the hallway.

"I can't wait for P.E. class!" he meowed excitedly. "I hear we're playing tackle-football."

"What's that?" Hollypaw asked. She couldn't believe that even her brother knew more about the school than she did, but then, Lionpaw was so perfect.

"I don't know," Lionpaw admitted. "But it has 'tackle' in the name, so it's gotta' be something good!"

Hollypaw made to follow him to the gym, but he turned her around with his tail. "This is the toms' locker room. The she-cats' is over there." He gestured to the other end of the hallway. "Meet you in class!"

She sighed and turned in the direction Lionpaw had pointed. When she reached the locker room, she saw that there was a sign on the outside that said 'She-cats.' A little more reassured that she was in the right place, she pushed open the door.

Besides sensitive ears, Hollypaw had a very sensitive nose. Upon entering the locker room, she slapped her tail over it. A stench much like crow-food hung heavily in the air. A dozen or so shabby lockers stood to one side of the room, and changing stalls to another. According to her schedule, Hollypaw's was locker 13. Thirteen was an unlucky number to her. School didn't look like it was going to turn out well.

Inside the locker, there was a pair of shorts and a matching top. Hollypaw slipped them on, crinkling her nose at the stale scent that came with them. A door to her right was labeled 'Gym,' so she went in there. Inside, the rest of the class was already assembled. Much to Hollypaw's dismay, Crowfeather was there too, wearing a jersey that read 'Coach.'

"Hollypaw, you're late," he snapped. "Give me two laps around the gym, and make it quick."

She dashed around the gym as quickly as she could, but about halfway through the first lap, her legs started aching. Remembering what Crowfeather had said about being quick, she picked up her pace and made a sharp turn around the corner. There was a piercing pain in her paw. Hollypaw skidded to a halt and gasped in agony. Lionpaw rushed over.

Jaypaw, who had been sitting on the sidelines, joined him. He grasped Hollypaw's paw between his teeth and shook gently. She gasped. "It's sprained, but not broken," he declared. "I'm going to take her to the nurse." The RiverClan cats in the class laughed at the two of them walking awkwardly down the hallway to Leafpool's office.

* * *

"You were right, Jaypaw," Leafpool was meowing. "It's sprained, but not badly. Put this ice on it, and then you can go back to class." She scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Hollypaw. "It's a doctor's note. You won't have to participate in gym class today."

Overjoyed, Hollypaw walked back to class. Jaypaw stayed behind to help an apprentice with a bad nose-bleed.

She was really glad not to be in class when she saw what tackle-football was. Clutching the ice to her paw, she watched as Lionpaw tackled a RiverClan apprentice and stole something oval-shaped that smelled like fresh-kill from her. He tossed it to Berrypaw, who expertly dodged two apprentices and dashed into an area of the gym that with a sign that said 'End Zone.' His team cheered wildly. They assembled for the next part of the game.

The RiverClan team was lined up in front of the ThunderClan cats. The oval-shaped fresh-kill was perched on a little stand. Lionpaw stood behind it. He took a running start and kicked the ball through two posts.

"Field goal!" Crowfeather yowled. "ThunderClan wins the game!" The class crowded around him. "Well done, well done. We'll go over strategy next time. See you all tomorrow!"

Lionpaw joined Hollypaw outside the locker room. "You missed a really great class," he meowed. "Did you see me tackle Minnowpaw? That was awesome!"

"You did great," Hollypaw agreed. "Although I'm not sure P.E. class is my favorite."


	2. Lionpaw in Trouble and a Little Crazy

**Chapter Two**

Hollypaw gasped with relief as she dropped her heavy book bag on her nest. She kicked off her shoes – wincing as she flexed her sprained paw – and at down at her desk to start on her homework. It was incredibly hard. She hadn't been too bad at hunting and fighting, but she wasn't good with things like geography, geometry, and history. Mistyfoot had assigned a report on the geography in the area, Mousefur said she gave daily worksheets, and Littlecloud told them to write a history essay, about twolegs, of all things! That was going to take the longest, so she sighed and resigned herself to a night in her room.

She had hardly finished the first paragraph when Brambleclaw, her father, came home from work. He was the vice principal at Apprentice Academy, and often worked late into the night doing paperwork with Firestar. Hollypaw wondered why he was home so early, and then she remembered - he was going to the C.T.A. (Cats/Teachers Association) meeting with Squirrelflight, and was leaving them home alone! The night only got worse from there.

Dinner was a rushed meal, with leftover stewed mouse and some berries. Before Hollypaw knew it, Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight were slamming the door behind them, off to the meeting. Lionpaw locked the door with an ominous click.

Silence filled the house as Hollypaw worked on her homework. She finally finished her essay and was just starting on Mousefur's math assignment when Jaypaw popped his head into her room.

"It's oddly quiet, isn't it?" he meowed. Hollypaw nodded. "I think Lionpaw may be up to something."

"I can't believe Mom and Dad left him in charge," mewed Hollyleaf nervously. "We played tackle-football in P.E. class. I'm sure he's going to try something." At that moment, the door to Hollypaw's den swung open. Lionpaw flew through the doorway and careened into Jaypaw.

"Hey!" the medicine cat yowled in surprise.

"Touch down!" Lionpaw meowed triumphantly.

"You mouse-brain!" hissed Hollypaw. "Get out of my den!"

"Ah ah ah, Sis." Lionpaw stood tall like an army commander. "Mom and Dad left me in charge, and I can go wherever I want. So I'm hereby claiming every room but this one my territory." He strutted off, slamming the door behind him. Hollypaw and Jaypaw stared at each other.

Finally, Hollypaw whispered, "What are we going to do?" Jaypaw shook his head, still shocked by the recent events.

"Can you help me with my geography assignment?" she asked.

"I would, if I could see it," mewed Jaypaw sadly. "I couldn't understand anything the teachers were saying, because I couldn't see the pictures or the textbooks that went along with it!" His voice had risen to a wail. "I'm hopeless!"

Hollypaw felt pity for her brother. Even before the academy, he had been different from the other apprentices, because he had trained as a medicine cat. "You're not hopeless," she meowed. "Here, we can work on it together." The two apprentices spent the rest of the night holed up in Hollypaw's room, struggling together to understand the complicated geometry figures.

* * *

The next morning, Hollypaw and Jaypaw went down to breakfast bleary-eyed and tails drooping. Not surprisingly, Lionpaw wasn't in the kitchen. He had said something about getting to school early to practice football. Brambleclaw had already left for work, but Squirrelflight was there, enjoying a bowl of Fresh-Kill Crisps cereal. "How was last night?" she asked.

Hollypaw considered telling her mother about what Lionpaw did, but they had come back from the meeting looking troubled, and she didn't want to add to their worries. On the other paw, what he had done was really disturbing. In the end, she just mewed cautiously, "I got all my homework done," which was technically telling the truth. They'd lurked in Hollypaw's den doing homework until the wee hours of the morning, when Jaypaw had finally declared it safe to venture into the hallway.

* * *

The bus was packed when it screeched to a halt in front of their house; they were the last stop on the route. There were no free seats, so Hollypaw told her brothers that she'd meet them at school and went to squeeze in with someone else.

"Is anyone sitting here?" she asked a RiverClan apprentice. It was Minnowpaw; Hollypaw recognized her from Gatherings. Minnowpaw shook her head, and Hollypaw took her seat.

It was tough talking to an apprentice from another Clan. Hollypaw didn't really know what to say, even though they were all learning together now. They sat in silence for awhile, staring at the landscape as it rushed past the window. Finally, the ThunderClan apprentice made a stab at conversation:

"What's your favorite class so far?"

Minnowpaw looked up, surprised. "Oh, geometry, I guess."

"It's really confusing to me. I think I like history; the way Littlecloud teaches it is really interesting." Hollypaw hoped that the RiverClan apprentice wouldn't think she was trying to argue.

"There are some simple tricks to it," Minnowpaw explained. "I could help you with it sometime."

"I'd really enjoy that," meowed Hollypaw earnestly. "How about at recess today?"

"It's a date," Minnowpaw mewed.

* * *

Lionpaw dashed through the between-lessons crowd on his way to his locker. He dropped his books off quickly and hurried to the exit. They were getting let out for recess. It was practically the only free time they had. _I envy the young warriors, _he thought to himself. _At Warrior High they've got free periods!_

He was the first cat out at the play yard, but not for long. A wave of apprentices surged out behind him. Lionpaw lifted his muzzle, tasting the air for the single scent he craved the most. When he couldn't detect it, he padded towards a group of WindClan cats. He tried to distinguish individual cats from the musky scent of the group, but then he sensed WindClan approaching from the other direction. It brought the sweet scent that he wanted.

"Heatherpaw!" he cried, spinning around.

"Lionpaw!" she mewed, dashing towards him. They touched muzzles, rubbing each other affectionately. Before either apprentice could say anymore, though, another WindClan cat interfered.

"Get away from her," Breezepaw snapped, pushing Lionpaw away from the she-cat. The golden tom bared his teeth, unsheathing is claws.

"Make me," he growled. Lionpaw lunged at Breezepaw, aiming for his throat, but at the last second sheathed his claws and batted the black tom's ears.

The WindClan cat darted under him, trying to unbalance him, but Lionpaw, strengthened by his training with Tigerstar, was ready, and simply crashed down on the apprentice. "Heatherpaw is mine," he hissed in Breezepaw's ear. The black apprentice struggled to get up. Lionpaw stepped delicately off of him, but Breezepaw lunged at the golden tom almost immediately.

Lionpaw spun around, hissing. He shoved Breezepaw to the ground and planted his paws firmly on his back. He had won.

He was about to walk away with his prize when a yowl came from the other side of the yard. "Lionpaw! Breezepaw! Fighting in school? This'll earn you a trip to Firestar's office!" Lionpaw's heart sank. It was Tornear, one of Lionpaw's least favorite WindClan cats, second only to Breezepaw. At least the black apprentice was getting in trouble, too. He twitched his ears in goodbye at Heatherpaw, and followed Tornear to the principal's office.

* * *

"Lionpaw, Breezepaw, I'm extremely disappointed in you," Firestar meowed gravely, "particularly in you, Lionpaw. I expect my kin to know better." The ThunderClan leader had given Lionpaw a good cuff around the ear when he had first arrived.

"It would be much appreciated if you settled your differences outside of school, or even better, without fighting. Now I want you both to apologize, and shake paws." Lionpaw glared at Breezepaw but did what Firestar told him to do. The WindClan apprentice did as well, but he took his paw away quickly, as though afraid of dirtying himself. Firestar sighed. "That will have to do," he mewed. "You will both have a day's suspension and I shall expect you in the detention hall after school." He waved his tail in a sign of dismissal.

Lionpaw wasn't done being punished, though. His father cornered him almost as soon as he set paw out of the office. "I can't believe you were fighting, and only on your second day!" Brambleclaw meowed sharply. "Firestar let you off lightly. Your mother and I will have more to say about this when you get home." He stalked off.

Even though it was still ten minutes till the bell, Lionpaw trekked off to his next class. He had never felt so ashamed in his life. Yes, Breezepaw had been asking for it, but did that really make it right? He would have used his claws on the WindClan apprentice for a couple of mousetails. And he had an advantage – he had his powers from the prophecy.

He hadn't realized that he had walked right past his classroom – English in room A. Lionpaw was in a part of the school he had never seen before. A large arch rose up overhead, bearing the word 'Library.' He wondered what a 'library' was, so he pushed open the door and padded in.

The bell rang. Lionpaw was late for class, but he didn't mind. He wandered around the library, taking in the whole thing. Shelves lined the walls, filled with hundreds, even thousands of books.

"Marvelous, isn't it?" asked a voice behind him. Lionpaw spun around. It was Millie. She didn't seem to mind that he wasn't in class, just tipped her head curiously.

"Yeah," he murmured.

"Go check something out," Millie told him. When Lionpaw looked confused, she meowed, "You can borrow books from the library, and check them out with me."

Finally understanding, the golden apprentice headed over to a shelf on the far wall. He spotted a large book with a title in bold letters. He grabbed it off the shelf, and hurried back to Millie.

"Interesting choice," she mewed, glancing at the title. "It's due back in two weeks. Let me know if you like it." The she-cat ushered him out of the library.


	3. ParentTeacher Orientation

**Chapter Three**

"I'm home!" Lionpaw yowled as he banged open the front door of the house.

"Hi, Lionpaw," called Squirrelflight from the kitchen. "Do your homework now, before dinner. We're going out tonight."

"What for?" he asked, dropping his bag on the counter.

"Great StarClan, don't tell me you've forgotten already," his mother meowed exasperatedly. "We're going to Parent/Teacher Orientation. Your teachers are going to tell us about the school, how you're doing, that sort of thing."

Lionpaw gulped. His grades, (aside from P.E. class), weren't terrific. He was fine with that, of course, but he couldn't see Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight feeling the same. "I'm going to do my homework," he mewed quickly. The apprentice grabbed his book bag and headed upstairs.

He dumped the contents of his bag onto his nest. There was the usual assortment of textbooks, notebooks, and pencils, but a small, paperback book fell out as well. Lionpaw had nearly forgotten the book he'd gotten at the library. He turned it over and examined the cover.

_World War II – A Twoleg History Book_

_Great, _Lionpaw thought to himself, _over a thousand books in the library, and I have to pick one about twolegs. _He was about to toss it back onto the moss, but then something on the cover caught his eye.

It was a monster, bigger than he had ever seen before. It didn't look like the normal ones twolegs rode in, or one like the bus he and his littermates took to school. It was a deep shade of olive green, and was made up of two main parts: a large one at the bottom, where the paws were, and a smaller one on the top, with a hatch were a twoleg was sticking out. There was a long pole attached to this, with a hole at the end of it. Fascinated, Lionpaw sat down and began to read…

* * *

"Lionpaw! Lionpaw, where are you? It's time to go!" Lionpaw's father's angry voice sounded from downstairs. The golden apprentice jumped. He had been so immersed in his book that he hadn't realized how late it was getting.

"I'm coming!" he yowled, slamming the book shut. Lionpaw bounded down the stairs and met his irked family in the front hall.

"Finally," Jaypaw muttered. Together they drove to the school.

First they visited Hollypaw's homeroom. The teacher, Brackenfur, said that she was doing really well in all her studies, and had even impressed Littlecloud by writing a three-page essay in one night when it hadn't been due for two weeks. Brightheart said mainly the same things about Jaypaw, and mewed quietly to Squirrelflight that she was impressed how well he was handling the coursework, being blind and all. Lionpaw's stomach churned. They were getting nearer and nearer to his room – to his doom.

"Hello, Ashfur," Brambleclaw meowed coolly to Lionpaw's teacher. Something unseen passed between his teacher and his parents. Ashfur looked at Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight through narrow eyes. Finally, he mewed:

"Lionpaw's grades aren't as great as they could be, although he seems to be performing better in P.E. He's been late for class at least once, and was caught fighting on the playground." – At this Squirrelflight gasped; clearly Brambleclaw hadn't told her why Lionpaw was home so late yet – "I expect Lionpaw to improve in the future." He narrowed his eyes, if possible, even more as he looked at the golden apprentice. "These things aren't tolerated at Apprentice Academy." Brambleclaw gave Lionpaw a stern look.

"That is all," Ashfur concluded.

"I'm sorry," Lionpaw murmured to his father as they left the school.

Brambleclaw said nothing, just padded on ahead, not even looking back at his son.

* * *

At the next P.E. class, Hollypaw brought a note signed by Leafpool excusing her because of potential danger. To her surprise, so did Minnowpaw.

"I didn't really like football, to tell you the truth," she told Hollypaw. "I'd rather watch." The RiverClan apprentice joined Hollypaw at her usual spot on the sidelines.

"Thanks for helping me with my geometry worksheet," the black apprentice mewed.

"It was nothing," replied Minnowpaw, licking her chest self-consciously. "But I was wondering," she added with a sideways glance at Hollypaw, "if you might help me with my history essay, because you got done with yours so fast."

"I didn't mean to!" Hollypaw meowed honestly. "I never knew it wasn't due until later."

"But we'd only had one lesson, and you wrote a whole essay!" Minnowpaw protested. "Please?"

"I guess so," Hollypaw sighed. "I do owe you one."

"Great!" mewed Minnowpaw. "First of all, I don't understand why the twolegs fought each other. Littlecloud started talking about something about borders, but then he switched to taxes, and then it got confusing."

"Well," Hollypaw meowed, "it was sort of like the border patrols we used to do. One group of twolegs didn't want to be with the other group of twolegs, but that group wanted them, so they fought."

"But what was Littlecloud talking about when he said things about taxes?"

"That was one of the reasons the first twoleg group didn't want to be with the second one. That group was charging them for using some twoleg stuff, and the first group didn't like it."

"Oh, I get it now. It's sort of like it we charged another Clan for borrowing some of our healing herbs."

"Exactly," mewed Hollypaw.

"Thanks!" The bell drowned out Minnowpaw's last words. Together the two apprentices set off for geometry. Thursday morning geometry was the only class Hollypaw could remember; the rest of her schedule seemed to shuffle. Geometry was slowly becoming the apprentice's best subject. But Hollypaw didn't know what to do when they came to a lesson that neither of them could figure out.

"For any right triangle, the sum of the squares of the lengths of the legs equals the square of the hypotenuse," meowed Mousefur.

Hollypaw stared at the dusky brown elder, not taking in a single word she said. Well, she took it in as best she could, but she couldn't understand it. She raised her tail.

"Yes?" Mousefur asked.

"Could you repeat that?" Hollypaw meowed. "A little slower, maybe?"

Mousefur repeated it, but the apprentice still didn't understand. Hopefully Minnowpaw would, though. Hollypaw glanced over at her friend, but her heart fell in dismay as she realized that the RiverClan apprentice seemed as confused as she was. She scribbled something on a piece of paper and passed it to Minnowpaw.

_Hollypaw: Do you understand a word she's saying?_

Minnowpaw hesitated, glanced at Mousefur, who was still going on about what she called the Pythagorean Theorem, and finally wrote a response.

**Minnowpaw: No. And I'm guessing you don't?**

_Hollypaw: Not a clue._

**We're doomed.**

_Jaypaw might know. You could come over to my house after school and we could ask him._

**It's not much of an idea, but it's our only hope. I'll ask Dawnflower when I get home, but I'm pretty sure it'll be okay with her, assuming we're only doing schoolwork.**

_That's what we'll be doing. We can do our other homework as well._

**Great! I'll see you then.**

As Minnowpaw passed the last note to Hollypaw, the bell rang, and they set off to their next classes, which were unfortunately on opposite sides of the building. But now Hollypaw had something to look forward to that would get her through the school day.


	4. Art Class

**Chapter Four**

Hollypaw leaned back in her chair, exhausted. It was hard to believe that something as simple as schoolwork could be exhausting, but it was. Especially if you went to Apprentice Academy.

It was almost a half moon since she and Minnowpaw had become friends. It was almost a half moon since she and Minnowpaw had started having trouble with their work. And it was almost half a moon since Hollypaw's grades had started dropping.

It wasn't like she hadn't been trying. Hollypaw always tried her hardest, even if biology, geography, and geometry weren't nearly as interesting as the warrior code. Most of the time she could help her friend or her friend could help her, or Jaypaw could help them both, but geometry really had them stumped.

She wished that there was some cat who could help her with her homework, some cat who could help them all. But no cat Hollypaw knew had studied geometry; they'd all learned hunting and fighting and about the warrior code. Although it had been interesting for awhile, Hollypaw had come to the conclusion that Apprentice Academy was very boring. At least Lionpaw's reading grades were picking up, although she had no idea why.

* * *

Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw walked to the bus stop. They were joined at the corner by Minnowpaw. Hollypaw's brothers had nothing wrong with their sister bringing a friend into their tradition, assuming that her friend brought her brothers. Sure enough, lagging somewhat behind their sister came Pebblepaw and Ripplepaw.

Hollypaw sat next to her friend on the bus.

"Guess what?" asked Minnowpaw.

"I don't know, what?" Hollypaw meowed after a second.

"You know that assessment we took two sunrises ago?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"That was the last grade for the semester! We get report cards today!"

"No way!" Hollypaw gasped. She hoped she did well. Towards the end of the trimester, her grades weren't too desirable.

"There's more," Minnowpaw went on. "In the second semester, we get to choose electives! Those are classes like band, orchestra, chorus, dog (the language), and art."

"Wow," mewed Hollypaw. "I don't know which I'm going to pick!"

"You don't have to pick one," Minnowpaw meowed, "but it'll help your grades pick up. Oh, and there's a drawback."

"Of course," Hollypaw sighed. "Well, hit me with your worst."

"We don't get recess anymore." –There was a gasp from the seat in front of them – "We have a study hall before lunch."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Hollypaw meowed.

"No, it doesn't. All we did was walk around and talk anyways."

Lionpaw stuck his head around the seat. "Is study hall with the other Clans?"

"I hope so," Minnowpaw replied, "but I really have no idea." The other two apprentices agreed.

* * *

In the end Hollypaw had decided to go with art class. Her parents wouldn't pay for a musical instrument, and she didn't really feel like learning dog. She dropped her book bag off at her locker; the flyer she had gotten about the class had said they didn't need their bags. This was a good omen.

"Hello," meowed the teacher once everyone had settled down. Hollypaw didn't recognize this cat at first; she was wearing an apron stained with splatters of something in all different colors. The apprentices had never seen so many colors in their lives. Much of the first few moments of class had been spent gazing around at the walls of the colorful room. Even the teacher's fur was smudged with colors. Under all that, Hollypaw recognized Tawnypelt.

"I'm Tawnypelt," she went on, "and I'll be your art teacher for this semester. First of all, does anyone have any questions about art?"

A WindClan apprentice in the back raised her tail. Hollypaw recognized the mew of Heatherpaw. "What exactly is art?"

"That's a good question," Tawnypelt replied. "What is art? According to the dictionary, art is the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance*. And I agree strongly with whoever wrote the dictionary. Art could be many things; it could be a beautiful painting hanging in a museum; it could be a beautiful photograph of untouched snow. Art could simply be the way things happen naturally, such as the pattern the new buds and leaves of Newleaf make as they burst from the trees and bushes. Art is everything around us.

"Art is all of these things, and that is what we are going to be doing in art class this semester."

The class gaped at Tawnypelt. Never before had they seen a teacher that loved her subject so, that spoke about her subject like a living, breathing thing. Hollypaw was so caught up in what the ShadowClan she-cat had said that she hardly noticed Tawnypelt telling her to get brushes, paper, and a set of paints for every cat in the class.

"Our first project will be a test," meowed Tawnypelt. The class groaned. "But not the kind of test you're thinking of. I'd like to see the different techniques everyone uses. You are to use your paints to make a picture of something _beautiful_." She emphasized the word. "You have exactly one hour. Go!"

There was a scraping sound of chairs against linoleum as they scooted themselves towards the tables and began to paint. Hollypaw was one of the few that didn't start immediately. What did she think was beautiful? _The plants in the forest are beautiful, _she thought, _but that's not really what I'm trying to paint. I'm trying to paint something… special. Something different. What do I like most? _Then it hit her. What did Hollypaw worship more than anything else? What did Hollypaw wish so much they were learning? She sat down and began to paint.

First, she painted a small gray tabby tom. The black apprentice was surprised to see how much it actually looked like Jaypaw. She dabbed at the blue eyes. It was almost as if the cat in her painting really couldn't see. He was sitting in the hunting crouch, stalking his non-existent prey.

Next Hollypaw painted Jaypaw's prey. A pigeon prepared for takeoff. Its wings were spread, but it would have no chance of flying away. Behind the two characters, Hollypaw painted ThunderClan's forest. All the while she was thinking: _the warrior code… the warrior code… the warrior code…_

Tawnypelt padded around the room, commenting on students' artwork. Heatherpaw had painted a field of heather. The ShadowClan she-cat nodded her head in approval. Breezepaw had done a dog. Hollypaw twisted around, trying to see who had painted what, and how close Tawnypelt was to her. She was anxious to get their teacher's opinion on her painting.

_I don't like painting, _Hollypaw thought suddenly. _Well, I like actually doing it, but not the painting itself. It's not fair. Everything within the painting is frozen forever, doing what I made it do. Of course, it's not real, but it still doesn't seem fair._  
Tawnypelt stopped in front of Hollypaw's painting. "Great StarClan!" she cried. "We have a real artist on our paws! Come gather 'round, and see what Hollypaw has painted." There was a mixture of _oohs _and _ahhs_ as the rest of the class gathered around the apprentice's picture.

"Look at how lifelike the tabby looks," one cat commented.

"He looks just like that blind cat from ThunderClan!" meowed a WindClan apprentice.

"Look at the bird!" Dawnpaw from ShadowClan mewed. "It looks like it could actually fly away!"

If cats could blush, that's exactly what Hollypaw would be doing. It made her nervous to hear all the good things cats were saying about her painting. It was only her first; surely there was _something _wrong with it. As they were leaving class, Breezepaw came up with that:

"It's too perfect," he muttered to another apprentice.

"Hollypaw, wait!" Tawnypelt called. The apprentice stopped in the process of putting away her paints. "Was that the first time you ever painted?"

"Yes," Hollypaw mewed, suddenly unsure. "I've sketched a little before, but I've never actually used paints."

"That was amazing for a beginner," gushed the ShadowClan queen. "I'd like to move you into my intermediate class. Every three sunrises, artists from Warrior High come to my room to learn art. Instead of coming now, I'd like you to come with them, if that's okay?"

"I'd love to!" Hollypaw cried. "That sounds awesome."

"I'll see you then," mewed Tawnypelt, dipping her head.

* * *

Hollypaw tracked Minnowpaw down at lunch. "How was band?" she meowed as she sat down.

"It was fun. We got to try out all the instruments. I don't know what I want to play; there were so many! The trombone has a nice, deep sound, the trumpet hurts my ears, the flute is really hard but sounds really pretty, the clarinet sounds… different, and the oboe is shrill." The ThunderClan apprentice let Minnowpaw prattle on about her band lesson. She was still back in art class, hearing all the cats praising her. _Not me, _she corrected herself, _my artwork._

"How was art class?" Minnowpaw finally asked.

"It was great!" Hollypaw launched into a detailed summary of her class, from Tawnypelt's description of art to her lifelike painting to the ShadowClan queen asking her to join her intermediate class.

"That's amazing," the RiverClan apprentice mewed in awe. "I can't believe you get to go into her intermediate class!"

"Nor can I," Hollypaw admitted. "I'll bet everyone's going to be so much better than I am."

"That's not true!" Minnowpaw meowed. "From what you told me, you were amazing! I'd love to see your paintings sometime."

"Really?" asked Hollypaw.

"Of course," the other apprentice replied, "assuming you come to my band concert at the end of the semester."  
"Deal," Hollypaw mewed, slapping her paw onto her friend's. This semester was definitely destined to be better than the first.

* * *

**A/N: I realized that Minnowpaw is a black apprentice too, so that makes some of my phrases earlier in the story a little awkward. For future reference, if I ever referred to the 'black apprentice,' I'm talking about Hollypaw. Sorry for not updating, but besides having major writers' block I was a little busy. Also, what band instrument should Minnowpaw play? Make sure you tell me in your review!**


	5. A Band Lesson

**A/N: Wow! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter; as I'm writing this, there are 27 reviews! You guys inspired me to write another quick chapter.**

**Does there have to be romance in every story? They're only apprentices, for StarClan's sake! But here's a little bit of Jaypaw/Minnowpaw romance for you.**

**Lionpaw and Jaypaw won't be around so much in this story. It's mainly about Hollypaw and her friend Minnowpaw. Thank you to everyone who suggested a musical instrument for our favorite RiverClan apprentice to play, but flute won out. Enjoy a chapter of Minnowpaw's band lesson!**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Minnowpaw walked alone to the bus stop. Her brothers had gone to school early to play some football with Lionpaw, but she could see Hollypaw and Jaypaw waiting at the corner for her.

"Hi," she mewed. Hollypaw brushed muzzles with her friend and her brother muttered a hello. Jaypaw never was much of a talker, but Minnowpaw liked that about him. His grumpy attitude was a shell over his caring inside. Or so Willowpaw, the RiverClan medicine cat apprentice, had told her.

"I have my first band lesson today," Minnowpaw told Hollypaw. "I decided on flute. It sounds so pretty! Are you taking an elective, Jaypaw?"

"I'm going to try band," he meowed. "I don't care that I can't see the music; the sounds fascinate me." Sound made up a lot of his world.

"Brackenfur, the band director, could probably just say the notes you need to play out loud," his sister suggested.

"That's a great idea!" meowed Minnowpaw.

"I'll have to memorize the pieces, though. Whatever," he added. "I don't care. I'm going to try it."

"Have you decided what instrument you're going to play?" asked Hollypaw.

"I'm going to play the clarinet. Lionpaw told me that the keys go straight down, more or less, so it should be easy to remember."

The bus pulled up then, so their conversation was cut off. Minnowpaw stepped on with a fluttery feeling in her stomach that she couldn't identify.

* * *

The bell rang to signal the start of fourth period. Minnowpaw stepped into the madhouse of the hallway, trying to keep her instrument safe. The apprentice clutched her flute case to her chest and hurried off to her band lesson in room 2D.

There weren't nearly as many cats there as had tried out. Minnowpaw could make out the scent of ThunderClan and WindClan. She was the only RiverClan, and no ShadowClan apprentices were there as far as she could tell. She identified Hollypaw's brother.

"Hi, Jaypaw," she meowed.

"Hey, Minnowpaw," he responded. Looking incredibly embarrassed, the tabby tom added, "Can you put my clarinet together? I can't exactly see it."

"Of course," Minnowpaw mewed. She put it together as best she could, mostly guessing as to where the parts would go. Her flute was easier to put together. Both instruments were assembled by the time Brackenfur called the class to order.

He told them to start with concert B flat. It was B flat on the flute, Minnowpaw knew. She had looked it up in her book the night before. Forgetting what Brackenfur had said about not playing, the RiverClan apprentice put her instrument to her lips and blew.

No sound came out. Minnowpaw was embarrassed. She glanced around, hoping no cat had noticed her blowing. No, they were all intent on working on the correct fingering. Jaypaw wrapped his claws around his clarinet, covering the first three holes.

"Yes, it looks like Jaypaw's got it," Brackenfur meowed, coming over to where Jaypaw and Minnowpaw sat. "Put it in your mouth, keep your corners back…" He fussed around the blind apprentice, making sure everything was perfect.

"Now, blow."

Jaypaw's concert B flat was perfect. A wonderful sound filled the room. At first it was harsh to Minnowpaw's ears, but then she got used to it. It really was pretty, she noticed. Raising her flute, Minnowpaw played her B flat.

The two pitches mingled and floated on the air. Minnowpaw was surprised, but if they were the same note, it made sense that they would sound the same. Hers was slightly higher, but she didn't mind. Other instruments added their B flats: first a trumpet, making the sound bold and brass; a trombone added its low pitch; an oboe, despite how shrill Minnowpaw had thought it sounded, chimed in and made it sound wonderful. To top it all off, the percussionists added a low drum-roll. Brackenfur was waving his tail enthusiastically by the end of it.

"That was wonderful!" he mewed excitedly. "I was only going to have you do that for today, but you all were perfect. Let's work on rhythm."

They spent the rest of the class, (most of the rest, at least), working on different rhythm patterns and learning about quarter notes and half notes and time signatures. Minnowpaw felt giddy. She wondered if this was how Hollypaw felt about her art. Then the RiverClan apprentice felt instantly guilty. She hadn't thought about her friend once in the entire class. She had been too caught up in her friend's brother. Well, there was no way Hollypaw could know. Unless Jaypaw told her, of course. He always seemed to know what other cats were thinking.

A loud yowl of pain cut into her thoughts. "I cracked my reed!" a WindClan apprentice from the oboe section wailed. Minnowpaw could taste blood on the air. Jaypaw was already racing over to the apprentice. It was Breezepaw.

"He's cut his tongue," the ThunderClan medicine cat reported. "I'll take him to Leafpool's office."

"Okay," Brackenfur agreed. "Mousepaw, you clean up the rest of that reed. But be careful; some of the pieces might be sharp." The gray-and-white apprentice darted over to where Breezepaw had been sitting.

"You all be careful with your reeds," Brackenfur advised. "Your teeth can easily crack them, and the edges will be sharp."

As Minnowpaw walked out of class ten minutes later, she realized that she learned three things. One, don't bite down on your reed and cut your tongue. Two, there is no sweeter sound than the full band playing concert B flat. And three, Jaypaw, however prickly he may be on the outside, was really a nice cat.


	6. Peer Pressure

**Chapter Six**

"Argh!" Minnowpaw cried out in frustration one day at lunch as she set down her tray. Hollypaw set hers down next to it.

"What's up?" she asked sympathetically.

"The ceiling," Jaypaw replied as he plopped into the seat next to his sister.

"I wasn't talking to you," Hollypaw muttered, playfully pawing him in the ribs.

"I can't stand our biology teacher," Minnowpaw mewed through gritted teeth.

"Who, Graystripe?" Lionpaw asked. He dropped his tray to the table with a loud clatter, causing the WindClan cats at the next table over to glare at them.

"Who else?" Minnowpaw sighed. "He always assigns so much homework."

"Not to mention _hard _homework," added Jaypaw.

"I usually find his assignments easy," meowed Hollypaw cautiously. The other three stared at her. "Compared to Littlecloud's, that is," she added quickly.

"Says the one who finished her essay in one night," Lionpaw scoffed.

"That was moons ago!" Hollypaw meowed, embarrassed. She didn't like the way this conversation was going. It wasn't in the warrior code, but she didn't think that they should be talking about their teachers that way. She tried to change the subject.

"I can't wait to dissect fresh kill next week."

"Are you kidding?" Minnowpaw asked. "That's disgusting! We have to cut apart mice and rats and label all of their insides. Ew!"

"If you're trying to make a joke, Hollypaw, it's not funny," Lionpaw meowed seriously.

"Hollypaw's jokes are always lame," mewed Pebblepaw, a RiverClan apprentice who always sat at their lunch table.

"I wasn't joking!" Hollypaw snapped.

"Sure you weren't, Hollypaw," Jaypaw purred playfully, returning the paw in the ribs. "Just last week you were grousing about having to study the anatomy of dogs."

"Because Graystripe assigned a thousand word essay on it!" A RiverClan apprentice leapt to Hollypaw's defense. The whole table stared at the newcomer.

It was Willowpaw, a RiverClan apprentice. She had been Mothwing's apprentice before Apprentice Academy had opened. The gray tabby she-cat set her tray down next to Hollypaw's. "Who didn't grouse about that assignment?" she asked.

"We should get revenge on Graystripe for giving such hard assignments," Lionpaw joked, only half kidding.

"Lionpaw, you're brilliant!" mewed Minnowpaw, leaping to her feet.

Hollypaw gasped. "You want to get revenge on Graystripe for assigning the homework he was supposed to?" _That _was definitely against the warrior code.

"I'll bet no cat told him the essay had to be a thousand words," Jaypaw put in.

Other cats had heard their discussion, and apparently they had something against Graystripe as well, because three more apprentices moved their lunches to the already-crowded table.

"As soon as Graystripe starts talking," one apprentice began – Hollypaw recognized the voice of Mousepaw, but it was too crowded for her to see the gray-and-white apprentice – "we drop our books on the floor."

"Perfect!" Minnowpaw mewed triumphantly. Hollypaw looked at her friend in horror.

"You can't be serious!" she mewed. Everyone ignored her.

"We'll have to get the whole class to do it," meowed Jaypaw, strategizing. "If just a small fraction of us drop our books, it'll be too easy for Graystripe to administer punishment."

"Has it occurred to any of you that Graystripe might involve Firestar?" Willowpaw asked. Her soft mew was drowned out by the chaos of apprentices trying to figure out the best way to disrupt class.

Hollypaw shuddered involuntarily. No one wanted the principal involved. "You don't seriously think he would, do you?" she asked Willowpaw. _This _RiverClan apprentice seemed like she would make a good friend. When Hollypaw had first met Minnowpaw, her desire for a friend had blinded her to Minnowpaw's true nature, but as she looked back on their time together, she realized that Minnowpaw was a bit of a troublemaker. The apprentice had brought in a note to get out of P.E. when she wasn't even hurt. She just wanted to get out of class. It made sense that she would lead the rally against Graystripe.

"He might," Willowpaw answered seriously. "Remember how Lionpaw got sent to Firestar's office just for fighting at recess? That wasn't even disrespecting the faculty!"

Hollypaw felt surprised, and overjoyed. She didn't think that news of Lionpaw's fight earlier in the school year would have reached the RiverClan students, but apparently it had. She was overjoyed because there finally seemed to be an apprentice who regarded the warrior code as she did.

"They could get suspended for this," she meowed quietly.

Willowpaw's eyes widened. "I didn't even think of that," she mewed, aghast.

"If they did, we'd have a small fifth-period biology class," Hollypaw meowed. She brightened at the prospect of having a class that was almost like being mentored.

Willowpaw looked confused.

"You aren't going to participate in this, are you?" Hollypaw asked, suddenly scared. Surely her newfound friend, who seemed to honor the warrior code more than anything else, wouldn't risk a suspension, would she? Hollypaw would be all alone.

"Me? No way!" meowed the RiverClan apprentice. She seemed insulted by the fact that Hollypaw would think so little of her. "I thought that _you _were, because your brothers are."

"If I did half of the things those mousebrains did, I wouldn't be alive today!" joked Hollypaw. She and Willowpaw laughed quietly together. Then the bell rang, signaling that there were only five minutes before the fifth period started.

The other apprentices at the table leapt up, dumped what was left of their lunch in the trash, and scattered. Hollypaw suspected that they were spreading the word of the book-dropping. _Mousebrains! _she thought again.

As she and Willowpaw left the cafeteria, Hollypaw asked the RiverClan apprentice, "Do you think we should warn Graystripe?"

"Nah," Willowpaw meowed. "We're not going to get in trouble for it, anyways, so we may as well enjoy him freaking out. I don't like him _that _much."

Laughing together again, the two apprentices headed for their fifth period biology class.


	7. Unexpected

**Chapter Seven**

Graystripe smiled, whistling quietly to himself. He was glad to be chosen as a teacher at Apprentice Academy. He had loved mentoring before the school opened. One of his former apprentices, Brackenfur, also taught at the Academy.

He was also glad Firestar had assigned him biology to teach. This was a subject he had never learned before. The tabby tom would research things himself a quarter moon or so before he would teach the class. The apprentices never suspected that he hadn't known anything about the subject before he taught it.

His fifth-period class was the best behaved out of all of his classes, and that was why he'd decided that they and they alone were ready to dissect mice. Graystripe had read up on it the week before, and it took utmost concentration not to damage the fresh kill's insides. Only these apprentices were ready to handle it.

Hollypaw, one of his best students, would likely leap to the challenge. She was always calm and reserved in class, but she did her work with a fury. Only once had he given her a grade lower than an A+. He would make his assignments as hard as he could, but the black ThunderClan apprentice would always turn them in first thing the next day.

The bell rang. As he had suspected, Hollypaw was first through the door. She slid into a desk at the front of the room, right in his sight. A gray tabby apprentice sat down next to her, hanging her book bag on the back of the chair. Graystripe recognized Willowpaw, Mothwing's former apprentice. As the rest of the class filed in, he thought that RiverClan apprentice flashed him a look that was almost apologetic. Graystripe shook his head. He was imagining things.

He turned to the chalkboard and began to write out the day's assignment…

***

"_Dissecting Fresh Kill_" Graystripe wrote. Most of the class groaned, but Hollypaw and Willowpaw were among the few who cheered. They hadn't expected to be starting the new unit so soon. Willowpaw flicked a note onto Hollypaw's desk. The ThunderClan apprentice drew in a sharp breath. It was dangerous to pass notes in the front row, but Graystripe was still scribbling away on the board.

Quietly, Hollypaw unfolded the note.

_It's almost as though he knows something is going to happen, _Willowpaw had wrote. _He's stalling the beginning of the lecture._

**I know, **Hollypaw wrote back. **Do you think he's psychic?**

_No, _replied Willowpaw, _otherwise he would have started handing out detentions the moment we walked through the door. _Hollypaw chuckled quietly as she read the note. Then she crumpled up the paper and slid it into her desk. Graystripe cleared his throat, preparing to speak.

"Now I know you didn't think we'd start this until next week-" he began, but a loud noise cut him off. Hollypaw and Willowpaw jumped in their seats. It wasn't the noise they'd been expecting to hear, the sound of around thirty heavy textbooks as they hit the ground. It wasn't even the sound of one textbook. A shrill, electronic hum split the air.

A couple of cats yowled in fear. Terrified mews rang in the suddenly loud classroom. One ShadowClan apprentice kept his head. He pointed with his tail at the red light that hung from the ceiling. Hollypaw understood at the moment he yowled, "It's the fire alarm!"

And chaos descended upon Apprentice Academy.

The biology lab became a mob scene as the apprentices fought to get to the door first. There was a loud clattering sound as Graystripe's carefully arranged displays were knocked over. The tom cursed under his breath, but no one heard him.

Willowpaw's fur bristled from head to tail. Even the usually calm Hollypaw trembled in fright. They'd never had a fire drill at Apprentice Academy before.

Graystripe's yowl rang through the classroom. "Stay calm!" Instantly, everything was silent. At least, all of the frightened mewling had stopped. The alarm still blared shrilly.

"Everyone follow me," Graystripe meowed loudly, trying to make himself heard over the noise. Willowpaw and Hollypaw leapt out of their seats, knocking their chairs over in the process. Gradually the other apprentices came to their senses, and Graystripe lead them out of the room.

In the hallway, everything was worse. All of the doors were open, so they could hear the fire alarm in every classroom. Also, the hallway had alarms of its own. Hollypaw flattened her ears in an attempt to block out the noise. Across the hall, Littlecloud led out a line of mewling apprentices. Sandstorm was trying to quiet her class, all of whom were swearing in Dog.

"StarClan help us!" an apprentice yowled.

Firestar was at the head of the crowd. He was near the atrium that led to the front doors of the school – and hopefully, safety. "This way!" he called. The mob surged forward.

A strange scent tickled Hollypaw's nose. She was near the back of the crowd, with Willowpaw and the rest of the biology class. Her friend was sniffing the air as well. "What's that smell?" she asked.

Owlpaw, a ShadowClan student, meowed, "I've smelled that before. It was in the clearing where the twolegs put up their pelt-things. They had little caged fires…" He trailed off, trying to remember.

Hollypaw's eyes burned. A grayish haze had descended on them. "Willowpaw?" she mewed. "I can barely see you!" Her voice was hoarse, and her throat hurt when she tried to speak.

Willowpaw coughed. "Is it me, or is it getting hotter in here?" she asked, coughing in between words.

"Where is everyone?" Jaypaw asked. It had gotten strangely quiet in the hallway.

"They" – cough – "must have" – cough – "gone with Firestar," Lionpaw choked out.

"Which way was that?" Hollypaw meowed quietly. It hurt her throat to talk any louder than a whisper.

"Not that way!" Willowpaw's voice trembled with fear. Hollypaw squinted, trying to see where her friend was pointing through the haze. A bright, yellow glow met her eyes.

"Fire!" Lionpaw yowled. He went crazy, running back and forth across the hallway, looking into the trashcan to see if it was a way out.

"Wait!" Hollypaw tried to meow, but her throat burned so badly she thought it must be on fire. "Wait!"

Jaypaw must have heard her, because he signaled for the others to come closer. They were all coughing loudly.

"There is an emergency window in the biology room," the black apprentice choked out. "This must be what it should be used for."

"But it says that if you open it, an alarm will sound!" Willowpaw pointed out.

"Who cares?" Lionpaw asked. He coughed, and then continued, "It's our only way out of here!"

"Which way is the classroom?" Jaypaw asked. The smoke had grown so thick that they could barely see a tail-length in front of their noses.

"We're just outside of it, I think," Willowpaw meowed. Hollypaw nodded in agreement. She had given up on talking altogether.

Lionpaw carefully walked up to where he though the door was. The floor was hot and burned his pads. "It's here!" he called back to the others. They pushed their way into the classroom.

The air was clearer in there, because before class Graystripe always opened a window to let in a breeze. That one was out of reach, though.

"Here's the emergency window!" Jaypaw meowed. He was standing near the teacher's desk. Speaking was easier when most of the smoke was gone.

"Close the door!" Willowpaw ordered. "It will keep the smoke out." Lionpaw pushed it shut, and the remaining smoke drifted out the window.

Hollypaw leapt onto Graystripe's desk and pushed the window open with her forepaws. No alarm sounded.

"It must activate the fire alarm," Jaypaw meowed under his breath. The shrill alarm still rang in the otherwise quiet room.

A gasp came from the window. "We're on the second story!" Hollypaw meowed.

"No!" Lionpaw cried. He leapt onto the desk to look for himself.

"How will Jaypaw make it down?" Hollypaw's mew trembled with fear for herself and for her brother.

"I see tree branch we can leap to," Lionpaw meowed. "I'm going to try to reach it."

"Be careful!" Hollypaw called, but Lionpaw was already gone. They heard the groan of the tree as he landed.

"It's sturdy!" the golden apprentice called back. "I'll stick up my tail. Jaypaw, use it to guide yourself."

"Got it," Jaypaw meowed confidently, though his tail still trembled. Hollypaw led slowly him to the window.

"It's about a tail-length drop," she told him. Jaypaw bunched his legs, preparing to jump, and then he was gone. They heard the crunch of twigs snapping as he landed.

"It's just some small branches!" Lionpaw called back. Hollypaw sighed in relief.

"You first," Willowpaw mewed to Hollypaw. She had always been afraid of heights. The black apprentice tensed, and then threw herself out the window.

She landed on a wide branch, just in front of Jaypaw. "Get back," he warned as Willowpaw prepared to jump.

The RiverClan apprentice landed safely. She leaned over the edge of the branch. "We're about three fox-lengths from the ground," she told them. "I see several branches we can use to get down."

In a few minutes, they were all safely on the ground. Together, they ran a safe distance away from the school. Aside from hurt throats from breathing the smoke, they were uninjured.

The four apprentices stood together and watched Apprentice Academy burn to the ground.

***

**A/N: Don't worry, it's not over yet! The next chapter will take place a few moons later, after the school has been rebuilt. Sorry to all of the readers who were looking forward to Graystripe freaking out, but I had other ideas. I hoped you liked this chapter! I plan to update again soon.**


	8. Graduation

**Chapter Eight**

The bell rang, signaling the start of a new school day. This wasn't just any school day. It was the _last _school day. This would be Hollypaw's last day at Apprentice Academy. Nine moons ago she never would have believed it, but she actually found herself admitting that she was going to miss the dreary gray school.

Here she had sprained her first paw. Here she had made her first friend – and lost her first friend, now that she looked back on it. So she made a second friend, Willowshine. She had gotten her full name a few sunrises ago. Willowshine had been Mothwing's apprentice, and the golden she-cat had insisted that they carried out the proper medicine cat rituals, so Willowshine had journeyed with her former mentor to the Moonpool to get her name. Jaypaw and Leafpool had gone with them, too. Hollypaw's brother was now Jayfeather.

The school had burned down one fateful day back in late leaf-fall. It had taken the building team three whole moons to get it up and running again! It wasn't even running very well. Leafpool kept complaining about how un-clean it was because there was no running water.

All the same, Hollypaw loved the school. All it took was one little fire for her to discover how empty her life would be without Apprentice Academy. It was only there that she could see Willowshine, because they were in different Clans. And now they were graduating and she might never see her friend again!

"Hollypaw, is everything all right?" Willowshine whispered to her. "I don't think you heard a single thing Millie said about the graduation ceremony."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered back.

"Nervous?" Willowshine asked.

"Yeah," Hollypaw answered. The class had elected her to make a speech at the end of the ceremony. "I hope I don't get choked up mid-sentence, though."

"If you do, I've got you covered." Willowshine laughed.

"Girls!" Millie scolded. "I know you're excited to be graduating, but school isn't out yet."

"Sorry Millie," Hollypaw and Willowshine meowed together.

"Now get into line with the other apprentices."

Hollypaw looked up, alarmed. The rest of their homeroom class had lined up near the door. "Mouse dung!" she muttered. She and Willowshine joined Jayfeather at the back of the line.

"Way to start the last day of school," he muttered to Hollypaw, grinning.

"Be quiet, mouse-brain," she retorted quietly, prodding him in the ribs.

"Hollypaw!" Millie snapped. Her kits were due any day now, and pregnancy was making her short-tempered.

"Sorry Millie!" Hollypaw squeaked.

Millie opened her mouth to respond, but suddenly a loud crackling noise filled the room. It was the loudspeaker. Hollypaw gritted her teeth, trying to endure the sound in silence. The speaker hadn't worked very well _before _the fire, and now it was just a torture device.

Firestar's voice came on over the speaker. "Let all students old enough to catch their own prey – _crackle _– join here within the auditorium – _crackle -_ for a school meeting." Hollypaw snickered quietly. She liked how he had modified the leader's traditional call to his Clan mates to fit the school's needs, but it still sounded funny.

***

Class by class, the students filed into the auditorium. Hollypaw swallowed nervously. Her speech was rolled into a ball, clutched in a death grip in her right paw.

"Remember, I've got you covered," Willowshine murmured.

Hollypaw nodded. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she'd be sick.

"Stage fright?" Lionpaw teased. He had been named the P.E. class's most valuable player. The gold medal hung around his neck.

Hollypaw swatted at him playfully.

Firestar cleared his throat. Instantly all the friendly talk died away. "Before the ceremony begins," he meowed, "one of our students has volunteered to make a speech. Hollypaw, if you will."

Hollypaw stood up. Her legs were shaking so wildly that she was hardly able to stand. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. The black apprentice walked to the stage at the front of the auditorium. She hoped she looked more confident than she felt. _I have the Power of the Stars_, she told herself. _I can do this._

She padded up to the microphone in the center of the stage. Firestar stepped aside. Hollypaw cleared her throat, preparing to speak. She smoothed out her speech on the podium and began to speak…

***

"Great StarClan that was the worst ten minutes of my life!" Hollypaw muttered under her breath as she sat back down next to Willowshine.

"You weren't that bad!" her friend protested.

"I stumbled over the words and nearly barfed all over the new stage!" mewed Hollypaw.

"It was classic," Lionpaw meowed. "And the PTA president got it all on tape!"

"Oh, no, really?" Hollypaw gasped. She buried her face in Willowshine's fur.

"Back off, Lionpaw," meowed Jayfeather. "And be quiet. The ceremony's starting!"

Brambleclaw came to the microphone with a long list of names in his paws.

"Applepaw, Breezepaw, and Cinderpaw," he meowed.

The three apprentices made their way up to the stage.

"I, Firestar, principal of Apprentice Academy," Firestar began, "call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these three apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the subjects set before them, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn."

Hollypaw's paws pricked with envy. _Not long, _she told herself.

"Applepaw, Breezepaw, and Cinderpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and use everything you have learned at this school, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!" Applepaw called excitedly. Hollypaw couldn't believe that a ShadowClan cat could be so friendly-looking.

"I do," Breezepaw meowed proudly. He was smirking a little at Lionpaw.

"I do," Cinderpaw mewed.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names," Firestar announced. "Applepaw, from this day onward, you will be known as Appletail. StarClan honors your courage and loyalty, and we welcome you as a graduate of Apprentice Academy.

"Breezepaw, from this day onward, you will be known as Breezepelt. StarClan honors your loyalty and bravery, and we welcome you as a graduate of Apprentice Academy.

"And Cinderpaw, from this day onward, in honor of those who have gone before, you will be known as Cinderheart. StarClan honors your bravery and determination, and we welcome you as a graduate of Apprentice Academy."

Cheers erupted from the crowd as Brambleclaw handed the three apprentices their diplomas. Hollypaw was brimming with joy. The ceremony seemed to mean so much more now than it ever had when they were training the regular way.

The warrior ceremony dragged on for a long time. Hollypaw found her eyes drooping with boredom, and only managed to keep herself awake by the thought of getting her warrior name at last. Finally, Lionpaw became Lionblaze, and then it was Hollypaw's turn.

"Heatherpaw, Honeypaw, and Hollypaw," Brambleclaw called. He smiled warmly at his daughter as she padded onto the stage for a second time.

"I, Firestar, principal of Apprentice Academy, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these three apprentices. They have worked hard to understand the subjects set before them, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn."

Hollypaw took in a deep breath. It was finally time!

"Heatherpaw, Honeypaw, and Hollypaw," Firestar mewed, "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to use everything you have learned at this school, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," mewed Heatherpaw softly. Glancing at the WindClan she-cat, Hollypaw could see how Lionblaze could love her, even if she was in a different Clan.

"I do," Honeypaw meowed.

Hollypaw swallowed, hoping her voice would be heard in the back of the audience where her brothers and friends were sitting.

"I do," she mewed triumphantly. As she looked out at the crowd, she saw Squirrelflight waving her tail excitedly. She had come! Even Leafpool looked proud of her, for some odd reason.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names." Firestar turned his gaze on Heatherpaw.

"Heatherpaw, from this day onward, you will be known as Heathertail. StarClan honors your honesty and loyalty, and we welcome you as a graduate of Apprentice Academy." Hollypaw could see Lionblaze cheering excitedly with the rest of the crowd.

"Honeypaw, from this day onward, you will be known as Honeyfern. StarClan honors your intelligence and kindness, and we welcome you as a graduate of Apprentice Academy," Firestar meowed.

"Go Honeyfern!" Berrynose called out. Everyone stared at him. Suddenly realizing that he had said it out loud, he clamped his tail over his jaws and sat back down, embarrassed.

"And Hollypaw, from this day onward, you will be known as Hollyleaf. StarClan honors your thoughtfulness and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full graduate of Apprentice Academy!" Firestar had to raise his voice at the end, because Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Willowshine were cheering so loudly.

As Hollyleaf walked back to where her brothers sat, she thought she must be glowing. She was so happy. She was a warrior at last! And it didn't even matter that she didn't learn hunting and fighting anymore.

"Congratulations!" Willowshine purred.

"Thanks," Hollyleaf mewed. "You too."

The ceremony ended as Shrewpaw of ShadowClan became Shrewclaw. As they stood up, Hollyleaf prepared to march out of the school, but the apprentices didn't move yet. Firestar had something more to say.

"It's been a good year," he meowed. "All of you coped brilliantly with subjects you had never even heard of before. But now the school year is over, and next year you will all go back to hunting and fighting and living by the warrior code."

Boos and hisses and other negative comments drowned out his last few words. Firestar silenced them with a few quick swishes of his tail.

"I thought you might react that way, so next year I will see you all at Warrior High School!" Cheers met these words.

And then Jayfeather did something Hollyleaf never would have expected.

He jumped up, tore off his dark blue graduation cap, and threw it into the air. Suddenly the air was thick with hats flying every which way.

"Have a great greenleaf, and I'll see you in leaf-fall!" Firestar yowled.

And with that, the students of Apprentice Academy poured out of all of the school doors and went racing across the school yard, graduation gowns trailing behind them as they went.


End file.
